


Utopia

by Mr_Customs_Man



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2012), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types
Genre: Cults, Family Drama, Forced Marriage, Gender Issues, Genderfluid Character, Homophobia, Misogyny, Multi, Serial Killers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-12
Updated: 2019-10-12
Packaged: 2020-12-12 05:36:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20997128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mr_Customs_Man/pseuds/Mr_Customs_Man
Summary: As the number of mutants in the city continues to rise, a town springs up deep in the bowels of New York's underground. When Mikey meets a girl from this mutant town, he's pulled into its seedy underbelly all while trying to navigate young love, his family, and his own gender.





	Utopia

Mikey didn’t really think about girls, at least not in the way Donnie thought about April. Mostly, he just thought it would be cool to go skateboarding with a couple of girls or maybe have a sleepover where they got to try on makeup and summon ghosts with an Ouija board. You know, like on TV. Unfortunately, April wasn’t really into any of those things, and now that she had stopped talking to them, she definitely wasn’t going to indulge Mikey’s sleepover ideas. 

Sometimes he daydreamed about falling in love. Usually, it began with him, in an alley, his brothers nowhere to be seen, surrounded by Kraang. Then _she_ would appear. She would fly down (because in his daydreams, his girlfriend could fly), lasers shooting from her eyes (and, also, she had eye lasers). She would be wearing a cape. 

That’s usually as far as it went. 

Needless to say, when he finally met a Girl, it didn’t happen the way he thought it would. For starters, she was hanging upside down. Secondly, she was a mutant spider. 

Not that Mikey would complain. Spider-man was just as cool as Superman. 

“Hi,” she said. 

Mikey’s skateboard rolled to a stop. “Hey.” 

“Could you help me get down?” 

“No problem!” He pulled out his kusarigama and sent hurling towards the thick strand of silk that kept the spider-girl attached to the ceiling. She fell gracelessly onto the concrete floor, into the mud and muck that coated the sewers. Mikey winced. He probably should have thought of something else. 

The girl crawled onto her feet and start to whack at the mud coating her skirt. It didn’t take her long, since she had six hands and all. She was taller than Mikey by at least 5 inches and mostly brown with a few spots decorating her skin. She walked like a human, on two spindly legs that ended in humanish feet, and had a human-looking torso and head. The six arms all ended in humanish hands, and there was a human-like mouth smiling down at him. But there was _a lot of spider_ there too. Eight eyes stared at him and he could see two sharp fangs peeking out from between her lips. The most noticeable thing, however, was the large abdomen. With the skirt, it almost looked like she was wearing a Victorian bustle. 

“How did you get stuck?” He asked. “I thought spiders were supposed to hang from ceilings. At least, that’s what the ones in my bedroom do.” 

The girl shrugged. “I haven’t been a spider for very long, and I was trying to figure out how to use my spider silk to swing from place to place--” 

“Like Spider-man!?” Mikey interjected. 

“Yeah! Only it didn’t work, because the silk comes out of my butt instead of my wrists.” 

Mikey giggled, “Eww.” 

The girl ducked her head and Mikey thought she might have blushed if she was capable of it. Did spiders even have blood? “Yeah. I’m Kamala, by the way.” 

“Michelangelo, but you can call me Mikey! I gotta say, I’m feeling kind of weird to be talking to you naked when you’re wearing clothes.” 

Kamala brushed down her skirt. The extra sleeves on her sweater looked like they had been cut from two other shirts and roughly sewn together. “Mother Mary insists on all of us wearing clothes. Like, I get why the mammals would, since... you know... their junk just kind of hangs out there. But I’m a spider! No one would even be able to tell if I was a girl or a boy!” 

“Whose Mother Mary?” 

“She runs the city.” 

Excitement bubbled up inside of him. “There’s an entire city of mutants?” He asked. 

“Well, not really a city. There’s only about seventy of us, I think? But we’ve set up a few shops and we make things to sell online and there’s a school--” 

“You go to school?” Oh man, Mikey would _love_ to go to school! He would hang out in the cafeteria with his friends, and try out for sports, like cheerleading! Oh, and art classes! School plays! It sounded wonderful. 

Kamala kicked at the ground. “It’s so stupid. I thought turning into a giant mutant spider meant I would never have to take another math test again, but then Mother Mary had to ruin it. So, I decided to drop out and become a superhero vigilante. Or I will be once I figure out how to swing from buildings butt first.” 

Mikey flapped his hands. “I would much rather be in school. I do the vigilante thing all the time and let me tell you it is _not_ as fun as it sounds. For one thing, Leo won’t let me wear a cape. Two, I never get any sleep because I’m always training or fighting. Three, everyone is so upset all the time! I made a mistake and now everyone is mad at me! Not that they’ll admit it, but they are! And it was the middle of a fight, I didn’t mean for it to happen!” 

Kamala stared at him with wide eyes, all eight of them. “Whoa. What happened?” 

So, Mikey told her. He told her about the Kraang and the mutagen and accidentally unleashing it across the city and how April didn’t want to be friends with them anymore after what had happened to her dad. Kamala sat next to him on the ground, slowly nodding her head. “So, it was you.” 

Mikey looked up at her. “Huh?” 

“The reason I mutated. One of those cannisters fell on the roof of my apartment building. I was up there because... well, anyway the thing broke and coated me and Lakshmi in this glowing green stuff.” 

Mikey bit the inside of his cheek. God, he was such a screw-up. “I’m sorry.” 

Kamala shrugged. “I’m not upset about it. I sometimes used to imagine turning into a beautiful mermaid or maybe a half-lion girl, but being a spider isn’t so bad.” 

A slow creeping smile spread across Mikey’s face. “Half-lion? Were you a furry?” 

“No! It was just... like a persona! A superhero persona!” 

“You mean fursona.” 

“I’m not talking about this anymore.” Kamala tried to look very stern, except when she went to fold her arms they got all tangled and mismatched and Mikey laughed even harder. 

He quieted down and the two sat next to each other, not caring about the dirt or mud, neither one saying anything until Kamala suddenly turned to him. “Do you want to see my house? I can introduce you to Lakshmi!” 

“Umm, yeah! Of course, I want to!” 

Kamala grabbed his hand and started to lead him through the sewers, his skateboard under his arm. The path she took him down twisted into a disused and centuries old tunnel with a large hole leading into a dark cavern. Mikey wondered if she was actually leading him to his doom, where she would tie him up in her web so that she could feast on his squishy insides. “Uh, what is this place?” 

“The catacombs,” she said in a dark and spooky voice. “A church used to be here before it was torn down. The catacombs still exist though.” 

He followed her inside and after about thirty feet he spotted torches lining the wall. In the dim firelight he could see dozens of mutants milling about the large, vaulted rooms. Most of them were insects and pigeons, but Mikey caught sight of a couple of dogs and cats, some squirrels, and even a skunk! There were even fewer reptiles. Only one lizard from what he could see. Some of them had set up stalls and were selling things, their wares splayed out across nailed plywood. A group of bright red beetles passed them. They were carrying buckets of red powder in each of their hands and talking in Spanish. One of them turned her head to look at them and called out, “Kamala! Mother Mary is looking for you!” 

Kamala didn’t answer. She squeezed Mikey’s hand and took off running, Mikey close on her heels. They came to a little street lined with wooden shacks that had been built into the old alcoves. Kamala pushed on the door of one of them and loudly announced. “Look what I found!” 

There was a spider sitting in front of a small loom and carding together strands of silk. She looked a lot like Kamala, but larger and older and with red eyes instead of brown. “Who is that?” The spider asked. 

“This is Mi... Michaela Hamato.” Mikey looked at Kamala inquisitively, but her smile became fixed and she gave a slight shake of her head. Oh well, might as well roll with it. “Mikey, meet Lakshmi! Lakshmi used to be a regular spider that lived on my roof but then I got a little bit of her DNA and she got a little bit of mine, so now we’re like sisters!” 

“I had sixty-three brothers and sisters,” Lakshmi said. “I ate four of them.” 

Kamala laughed. “Don’t mind Lakshmi, she just likes to joke.” 

Lakshmi stared blandly at her. Mikey didn’t think she was joking. 

“You better go see Mother Mary. She’s looking for you. Better to get it over with now than put it off any longer.” Lakshmi turned back to her work without another word. 

Kamala huffed out a sigh. “Yeah. Okay. Come on, Mikey.” 

As soon as they were out of the door, he asked, “Michaela?” 

“You want to go to school, right? Well, Mother Mary is very strict and old-fashioned. Boys are separated from the girls, and I want you to share my desk. If you pitch your voice higher, nobody would be able to tell you were a boy just from looking at you, not like the mammals.” 

Mikey smiled to himself. Kamala wanted _him_ to _share her desk_. She liked him! She wanted to be his friend! “Okay!” He had no problem with pretending to be a girl. It actually sounded kind of fun. He coughed and tried pitching his voice higher. “How’s this?” 

“Not bad. We can practice on the way to Mother Mary’s.” 

Mother Mary reminded Mikey of Master Splinter despite the fact that she was a mutant egret. She was tall like him and had that same serious demeaner that made Mikey want to get into ready position. She was seated at a stone sarcophagus, various documents spread out before her, and to her left stood a mutant turtle who quietly handed her things to sign. Mikey sucked in a breath at the sight of him. _Another turtle_! And a red-eared slider from the look of him, common to Turtle Pond, which is where Mikey assumed he had been mutated. Mother Mary turned her long, thin neck to look at them as they approached. “Kamala. Your teacher told me you weren’t in school today.” 

Kamala hung her head. “I’m sorry, Mother Mary. It won’t happen again. But I found another mutant! Her name is Michaela Hamato and she used to be human.” 

What? Human? He never said that! Being a girl was one thing, but Mikey didn’t like the idea of people thinking he used to be human. What was wrong with being a turtle? 

Mother Mary looked over him, her eyes appraising. It made him shiver. “Be that as it may, you are an example to our animal citizens. You must show them what it means to be civilized. I do not want to hear of this happening again, Kamala. Now, Michaela, how is it that you became mutated?” 

Mikey shrugged. “Ooze.” 

Mother Mary’s beak twisted. Mikey wasn’t sure if that meant she was irritated or amused. “And your family?” 

“They got mutated as well.” 

She leaned forward. “And your... sisters? Mother? Are they turtles as well?” 

“Brothers. Three of them. Yeah, they’re turtles. I don’t have a mom, but my dad is a rat.” 

She eased back into her chair, that look of eagerness she once had at the mention of his family was gone. “I do hope you will tell your family about our little town. We always enjoy meeting new people, and our defenses are really quite good, if I do say so myself. It can be so dangerous out there for a mutant, and you seem like a sweet, young girl. I bet it must be scary for you.” 

Mikey bit back a laugh. “Oh, yes! Very scary!” 

“Mikey wants to go to school. I said she could share my desk,” Kamala said. 

Mother Mary looked _very_ pleased. “Of course she can attend, if her father permits it. Our little school isn’t much, but we would love to have her here. We will need to get you appropriate clothing, of course. We have a very strict dress code. I don’t believe that just because we’ve been mutated that we should abandon all vestiges of civilization.” 

“Lakshmi and I will take care of it.” 

“Thank you, Kamala. Michaela, I hope to see you soon.” 

The two ran back to Kamala’s house as soon as Mother Mary turned her back on them. “_I bet it must be scary for you, a sweet, young girl,_” Kamala mocked. “I almost wanted to tell her right then that you were a boy and a _ninja_ just to wipe that look off her face! Not that I dislike her,” Kamala said quickly, glancing around at the mutants pushing past them on their way to someplace else. “She’s done a lot for us. She basically built this town. Come on, I’ve got some old clothes that might fit you. We can try some on.” 

“Do you have any make-up?” Mikey asked excitedly. 

“No, but I can get some from Lucy. She has a ton and she never uses any of it.” 

This was turning out just like his sleepover daydreams. Girls were awesome! Now he just needed to get his hands on an Ouija board. 

Kamala left him by her front door and ran down the street towards a house on the corner. She knocked on it and Mikey could just see a small, white furry face peeking through the door. Kamala said something and then a plastic bag was pushed into her arms and the door closed on her face. Kamala ran back to him. “I’ve got the make-up, but I don’t know how to put any of it on.” 

Mikey pulled out his T-phone. “We can look up tutorials on Youtube.” 

“Why is your phone shaped like a turtle shell?” 

“In my family, we appreciate turtle puns.” 

“Your family is a bunch of nerds. Come on.” 

As soon as they got inside, Kamala began to rummage around inside an old battered suitcase while Mikey dug through the bag of make-up. Since neither he nor Kamala had eyelashes, he discarded the mascara. “Well, most of my shirts have either six sleeves or no sleeves. I do have this old hoodie though. The sleeves were too clunky to attach to another shirt so it’s still intact. I’m just not sure about shell. Eh, we can make the neck hole larger if we need to. My skirts shouldn’t be a problem. If they can fit over my opisthosoma, they can fit over your shell. Sorry, but Mother Mary won’t let you wear pants.” 

“Skirts are cool,” Mikey said, already imagining himself twirling in them. 

“Shouldn’t you be getting ready for night school?” Kamala suddenly asked, turning to Lakshmi, who was still working on her loom. 

Lakshmi let out a huff. “No. I was excused. I need to finish this. Mother Mary says we are behind on our orders.” 

“We make and sell silk fabric,” Kamala explained. “It’s one of the ways we survive down here. A few of the former humans have non-mutant family members who are willing to act as go-betweens. They sell our products online and then use that money to buy us the things we need.” She turned back to Lakshmi. “I’m going to go get dinner from Li. What do you want?” 

“None of those awful green things!” 

“Those are vegetables, Lakshmi.” 

“They’re awful!” 

“Okay. Mikey?” 

Mikey turned to her with a stricken look. “My family doesn’t know where I am. I’m supposed to make dinner.” 

“You’ll be back tomorrow, right? For school? It starts at 9:00.” 

Mikey nodded. “Yeah, training is at six. It’ll be over by then. I’ll be here.” 

A smile lit up across Kamala’s face. “Okay! See you tomorrow! Come straight here, okay?” 

“I will! Bye!” 

Mikey ran the entire way back to the lair. He hoped Leo wasn’t mad at him for disappearing. He couldn’t stand to hear _another_ lecture. “I’m back!” He announced as soon as he entered. Only Raph bothered to look up. Leo remained glued to the television, and Donnie and Master Splinter were nowhere to be seen. 

Raph rolled his eyes. “So much for all that peace and quiet.” 

Well, at least it wasn’t a lecture.


End file.
